RE+ 2022

[billvon 2,990]

Just got back from RE+ in Anaheim. (Formerly known as Solar Power International and Energy Storage International.)  Some takeaways:

Seems like everyone now has a hybrid inverter plus MPPT charge controller, usually for a 48V battery. A few go to 400-800V batteries.

Same thing with 48V LFP batteries. Every battery manufacturer had some sort of 1-5kwhr 48V rackmount or monolithic LFP battery. Pylontech has FINALLY gotten away from their 15S '48V' batteries and gone to 16S.  This means they can be used with other systems, which is good.

A lot of those cubes with a battery plus inverter plus charge controller for camping and the like. They are now large enough (3kW, 8kWhr) to power houses. Bluetti makes a lot of them. They have one with a sodium (instead of a lithium) battery but it's not out of beta testing yet.

One company - Maxout - has something called the Evergrid which is a gadget that will trick a grid tie inverter into staying on through a blackout. (Non-hybrid grid tie inverters normally won't do this of course, outside of the IQ8+ and the SMA Secure Power system.) It allows the grid tie inverter to power the house during the blackout at least while the sun is out. This worries me. It is, of course, just a tool like anything else, and in competent hands could do a lot of good. But the potential for disaster in untrained hands is large.

Enphase can now do the same thing but without that gadget. Their microinverters (the IQ8's mentioned above) will grid-form and create a local grid to power a house through a blackout. You can also add smallish batteries (1kwhr at a time) to provide some power at night.  Their modularity makes a lot of sense.

There are a few companies now pushing DC lighting and DC house/building power. There are a lot of advantages to 400VDC for house power and 48VDC for lighting.

There was a LOT of money there this year. Beer and food were available all over the place, and they threw a party at the Angels Stadium. The whole stadium was open, with live bands, a fireworks show and about a dozen different kinds of food. (And an open bar.)

When I went to my first SPI/ESI about 15 years ago there were 80 exhibitors. This year there were 800, and there were almost 30,000 attendees. Over 200 seminars and courses. It is now the biggest energy conference in the US. Not the biggest renewable energy conference, the biggest energy conference period.
 

[Phil1111 1,149]

3 hours ago, billvon said:

Just got back from RE+ in Anaheim. (Formerly known as Solar Power International and Energy Storage International.) ...

When I went to my first SPI/ESI about 15 years ago there were 80 exhibitors. This year there were 800, and there were almost 30,000 attendees. Over 200 seminars and courses. It is now the biggest energy conference in the US. Not the biggest renewable energy conference, the biggest energy conference period.
 

What? Engineers like beer?

Sounds like fun.

[JoeWeber 2,720]

4 hours ago, billvon said:

Just got back from RE+ in Anaheim. (Formerly known as Solar Power International and Energy Storage International.)  Some takeaways:

Seems like everyone now has a hybrid inverter plus MPPT charge controller, usually for a 48V battery. A few go to 400-800V batteries.

Same thing with 48V LFP batteries. Every battery manufacturer had some sort of 1-5kwhr 48V rackmount or monolithic LFP battery. Pylontech has FINALLY gotten away from their 15S '48V' batteries and gone to 16S.  This means they can be used with other systems, which is good.

A lot of those cubes with a battery plus inverter plus charge controller for camping and the like. They are now large enough (3kW, 8kWhr) to power houses. Bluetti makes a lot of them. They have one with a sodium (instead of a lithium) battery but it's not out of beta testing yet.

One company - Maxout - has something called the Evergrid which is a gadget that will trick a grid tie inverter into staying on through a blackout. (Non-hybrid grid tie inverters normally won't do this of course, outside of the IQ8+ and the SMA Secure Power system.) It allows the grid tie inverter to power the house during the blackout at least while the sun is out. This worries me. It is, of course, just a tool like anything else, and in competent hands could do a lot of good. But the potential for disaster in untrained hands is large.

Enphase can now do the same thing but without that gadget. Their microinverters (the IQ8's mentioned above) will grid-form and create a local grid to power a house through a blackout. You can also add smallish batteries (1kwhr at a time) to provide some power at night.  Their modularity makes a lot of sense.

There are a few companies now pushing DC lighting and DC house/building power. There are a lot of advantages to 400VDC for house power and 48VDC for lighting.

There was a LOT of money there this year. Beer and food were available all over the place, and they threw a party at the Angels Stadium. The whole stadium was open, with live bands, a fireworks show and about a dozen different kinds of food. (And an open bar.)

When I went to my first SPI/ESI about 15 years ago there were 80 exhibitors. This year there were 800, and there were almost 30,000 attendees. Over 200 seminars and courses. It is now the biggest energy conference in the US. Not the biggest renewable energy conference, the biggest energy conference period.
 

Please forward the reserve wine list.